Coming Lodi storm will be mild compared to mid-January tempests

Winter storms that swept through the Lodi area in the middle of January caused some damage, but the weather is finally calming down. And more rain is coming. “We have one storm coming in, and it’s going to last probably a couple of days,” said Jordan Root, a meteorologist with the private weather forecasting firm Accuweather.

The low pressure system is coming from the west, and is expected to bring some heavy rain and gusting winds from Wednesday night through Friday night, he said.

“There will be some heavy rain at times, and heavy snow, too, but nothing like the past couple of weeks,” Root said.

Unlike the past few storms, the gusts should be 35 to 40 mph, and mainly along the coast. They’re unlikely to cause major damage, he said. And this storm doesn’t seem to be carrying the moisture that the past few did.

Water flows from Camanche Reservoir into the Mokelumne River are already high — 5,000 cubic feet per second, according to Jenesse Miller, a public information officer with East Bay Municipal Utility District, which controls Camanche.

That’s the maximum flow possible, said Andy Christensen, general manager of the Woodbridge Irrigation District.

In the past few storms, a few farmers in the Lodi and Woodbridge areas were affected by flooding in their fields. But at this point, the impact of another storm on the river’s flows should be minimal, he said.

“We’re as ready as we can be. The flow on the river is really dictated by the flow out of Camanche,” he said. “It would be nice if they would go down a little, but I don’t see them going down until after the storm.”

The silver lining: The major rainfall and snow in January has gone a long way toward cutting into California’s drought.

San Joaquin County is still classified as “abnormally dry” or “moderate drought” by the U.S. Drought Monitor. However, nowhere in the state falls into “exceptional drought” anymore, and most of Northern California is no longer in a drought at all.

That’s good news for Lodi, City Manager Steve Schwabauer wrote in his weekly report.

“Because of our ‘banked’ water with Woodbridge Irrigation District and our new agreement with North San Joaquin Water Conservation

District to take winter water, Lodi’s water system is operating heavily on surface water this winter,” he said.

This year, surface water accounts for about 71 percent of the city’s supply. At this point last year, none of the city’s supply came from surface water due to the drought.

“This winter use of surface water is helping to recharge our groundwater supply,” Schwabauer said.

Camanche and Pardee reservoirs are both above average levels for this time of year — 122 percent and 106 percent of average, respectively.

Things are looking great for California’s snowpack, too.

Using satellite data, computer models and snowpack measurements, University of Colorado at Boulder scientists estimated

the water content of the snow that has fallen since late December.

As of Friday, the statewide snowpack had jumped slightly above the average for April 1, usually its peak date.

Statewide, the snowpack — which represents the snow’s water content — is 186 percent of normal for the date. In the southern Sierra, it is a whopping 219 percent of average for this time of year.

The snowpack presents a new challenge, Christensen said. Where is all that snow going to go?

“That is the most problematic flooding situation,” he said.

In fact, that’s one of the reasons EBMUD has been releasing so much water from Camanche — not just to hold rain coming later this week, but to

hold the feet of snow that will melt a few months ahead, in the spring.

But for this week’s storm, the main concern will be flooded roads and gusty winds while driving, Root said.

“If you’re out driving and you get hit with rain or there’s flooding, turn around,” he said. “Never drive through flooded roadways.”

Drivers headed into the Sierra should be aware that heavy snowfall is expected at pass levels, the San Joaquin County Officer of Emergency Services said.

Drivers can keep an eye on road conditions at